Modi dials Putin, urges him to speak with Zelensky

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday (March 7) asked Russian President Vladimir Putin to hold direct talks with his Ukrainian counterpart. Modi also spoke to Putin about safe and early evacuation of Indians from Sumy, a city in Ukraine.

During the 50-minute discussion, Putin reportedly promised Modi of all possible help in getting Indian nationals out of the war zone.

It isn’t the first time Modi dialled Putin since the Russian invasion of Ukraine began. On February 25, he had called Putin urging for an “immediate cessation of violence”. Then too he had asked for Russia’s help in getting every Indian out of the troubled zone.

On Monday, President Putin reportedly briefed PM Modi on the state of negotiations between the Ukrainian and Russian teams. Modi is said to have appreciated the announcement of ceasefire and establishment of humanitarian corridors in parts of Ukraine, including Sumy.

Earlier in the day, Prime Minister Modi spoke with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. During the 35-minute call, Modi appreciated the “continuing direct dialogue between Russia and Ukraine” and thanked President Zelensky for his government’s assistance in getting Indians to safety. Modi also sought continued support from Ukraine in evacuating Indians from Sumy.

Around 700 Indian students are stranded in Sumy, which has been witnessing intense fighting between Russian and Ukrainian troops for days now. India has been making efforts to evacuate its citizens from the city but with little success due to heaving shelling and air strikes.

“It has been 10 days (since) we have been waiting here but there is no ray of hope (as to) when we will be evacuated,” says a distraught Indian medical student stranded in the embattled northeastern Ukrainian city of Sumy in a video message. There is no power, no water supply and shops are refusing to accept cards, even though ATMs have run out of cash, said the Sumy State University student.

Another Indian student stranded in Sumy, Aashiq Hussain Sarkar, told PTI, “Our willpower is going down. We are feeling demoralised… We are still waiting for an update.”

Indian students in Sumy on Sunday (March 7) posted videos saying they cannot wait any longer for help to arrive and would walk to the Russian border that’s 50 kilometres away.

The students, however, halted their plan after the Indian embassy in Ukraine asked them to stay put and “avoid unnecessary risks”.

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The embassy informed that a team from the mission has been stationed in Poltava city to coordinate the safe passage of the Indian students in Sumy to western borders via Poltava, and advised them to be ready to leave at short notice.

Meanwhile, Kyiv has dismissed Moscow’s new “humanitarian corridors” as an “immoral stunt”. A Ukrainian spokesperson said Russia was trying to “use people’s suffering to create a television picture”.

“They are citizens of Ukraine, they should have the right to evacuate to the territory of Ukraine,” the spokesperson told news agency Reuters.